Telephone Messages

Sometimes, there may not be anyone to answer the telephone and you will need to leave a message. Follow this outline to make sure that the person who should receive your message has all the information he/she needs.

How To Take Telephone Message

Steps
Answer the Telephone. The person on the other end asks for your immediate supervisor or co-worker who is not at his/her desk. The first thing you should do is say, “He/she isn’t here at the moment. Can I take a message?” Assuming they say yes continue to the next step. If they say no then the call is done. Just remember to ask if you can do anything else—they might want to call back and leave a message on the answering machine.

Write down everything they say. You may not think what they say is important but the person you are writing the message for might think it is. If needed aask them to repeat information.

Say good-bye (and “You’re welcome” if it apllies).

Give the message to the person as soon as possible or leave it somewhere they will find it.

Tips
Write in neat hand-writind and be polite to the person.
Make sure that you don’t write the wrong thing down. You wouldn’t want the person who gets the message to get the wrong idea.

Warnings Thing You'll Need
-Pen/pencil
-Paper
-Phone

1. Introduction - - - - Hello, this is Ken. OR Hello, My name is Ken Beare (more formal).
2. State the time of day and your reason for calling - - - - - It's ten in the morning. I'm phoning (calling, ringing) to find out if ... / to see if ... / to let you know that ... / to tell you that ...
3. Make a request - - - - Could you call (ring, telephone) me back? / Would you mind ... ? /
4. Leave your telephone number - - - - My number is .... / You can reach me at .... / Call me at ...
5. Finish - - - - Thanks a lot, bye. / I'll talk to you later, bye.

Here's an example of message

Telephone: (Ring... Ring... Ring...) Hello, this is Tom. I'm afraid I'm not in at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep..... (beep)
Ken: Hello Tom, this is Ken. It's about noon and I'm calling to see if you would like to go to the Mets game on Friday. Could you call me back? You can reach me at 367-8925 until five this afternoon. I'll talk to you later, bye.

As you can see, leaving a message is pretty simple. You only need to make sure that you have stated all the most important information: Your Name, The Time, The Reason for Calling, Your Telephone Number

Telephone: messages

- Can I speak to please? I’m afraid he’s in a meeting
- Can I help?
- Can you call back later?
- Can I take a message?
- Could you tell him that . . .
- Can I take your number, please?
- Okay, I’ll make sure he gets the message


Example of telephone message

Claire: Hello, finance department
Female: Hello, can I speak to Adrian Hopwood, please?
Claire: I’m afraid he’s in a meeting at the moment. Can I help?
Female: No I need to talk to Mr. Hopwood, I think. What time will he be out of the meeting?
Claire: In about an hour. Can you call back later?
Female: Okay, I’ll do that.
Claire: Or can I take a message?
Female: Actually, would you mind? Could you tell him that Jennifer Mc. Andrews called and that I’m in the office all day if he could call me back.
Claire: Can I take your number, please?
Female: Yes, it’s 5556872.
Claire: 5556872. Okay, I’ll make sure he gets the message.
Female: Thanks very much for your help, bye!
Claire: Goodbye!